Method of producing radio-active textile fibers and product thereof



Patented Mar. 26, 1935 METHOD OF PRODUCING RADIO-ACTIVE TEXTILE FIBERS AND PRODUCT THEREOF Franz Fatflnger, Vienna, Austria No Drawing. Application April 18, 1934, Serial No. 721,24:

4 Claims. (CL 174-177) My invention relates to an improved method of producing radio-active textile fibers and to the product of such method.

Textile fibers, such as cotton, linen and wool 5 fibers or the fabrics made therefrom, are at present rendered radio-active, primarily for therapeutic purposes, by saturating the fibers or fabrics with solutions of radium salts, as for example radium bromide solutions, and then treating the saturated objects with solutions of salts or acids which act as precipitants for the radium.

It was found that fibers or fabrics thus treated lose a substantial part of their insoluble radium compounds when used dry or when washed, by reason of the insoluble radium compounds either falling or being washed out of the surface layers of the fibers and fabrics. This loss, aside from being an economic waste of expensive material, results in a very substantial reduction of therapeutic efficiency which is necessarily dependent on the action of the radio-active rays. Furthermore, the introduction into the human body, by inhalation or otherwise, of more than a very small percentage of radium compounds is deleterious to health and, consequently, the radium compounds which fall or are washed out of the fiber present a source of danger to the workers on the fibers and the users thereof.

So far as I am aware, it has not been possible heretofore to produce radio-active fibers from linen, cotton, wool or silk which under mechanical strain did-not give of! radio-active dust from the surface thereof, or during washing did not suffer material loss in radio-active insoluble constituents.

f The principal object of my invention is to provide a remedy for this loss of radio-active compounds and the resultant disadvantages, and I accomplish this object by washing the treated fibers or textiles until no radio-active compounds are given off by them. I have found that the insoluble radium compounds which are produced by treating textile fibers with soluble radio-active salts, as for example radium bromide solution, and with precipitants, as for example ammonium sulfate, may be washed out to the extent that after the fibers are dried no radio-active dust will be formed from particles of insoluble radium compounds which might otherwise fall from the parts of the fiber at or near its surface; and, moreover, there will be no loss of radio-active substance if such radio-active fibers are cleaned by washing.

The washing action, to free the fibers of the excess insoluble radium compounds, is effected with constantly renewed cold or warm water and is continued until no insoluble radio-active compounds can'be detected in the washing fluid by known methods.

The washing out of the radio-active insoluble 5 particles from the surface of the fibers is facilitated and caused to penetrate more deeply into the fiber by adding to the water or to the solvent used in lieu thereof, salts such as alkali carbonates which have the capacity of converting the i0 radium compounds, for example radium sulfate, which are practically insoluble in water into water soluble compounds. When such salts are used in the solvent, it is desirable to thereafter wash the fiber with a dilute acid, preferably hydrol5 chloric acid, and to treat it with dilute sulfuric acid or dilute sulfate solutions.

Radio-active fibers produced according to the present invention may be made resistant to mechanical strains and to the action of washing fluids by forming thereon a coating of a water insoluble body, such as rubber or resin. To this end, the fibers may be saturated with solutions of rubber, resin or the like and the solvent evaporated by drying.

The following examples will serve to illustrate the manner in which my invention may be practiced.

Example 1 A fabric of sheep's wool about four inches square is saturated with a solution of 1 mg radium bromide in 500 com of water, wrung out and is then washed in water until no radium quantities can be detected in the washing water with the used an electroscope after the water has been boiled and allowed to stand for a day.

Example 2 A fabric of sheep's wool about four inches square is saturated with a solution of 0.5 mg radium chloride in 500 com of water; the fabric is wrung out and then washed in a solution of 2 g of sodium carbonate in 5 lof water until no radium content can be detected in the washing water with the use of an electroscope after the washing water has been boiled and allowed to stand for a day, thereupon the fabric is saturated in a solution of 5 g of rubber and permitted to dry to evaporate off the solvent.

I claim:

l. In'the method of producing radio-active fihers comprising saturating textile fibers with soluble radio-active compounds and precipitating such compounds with precipitants which form inpounds into soluble compounds, and washing the fibers until the removable insoluble radio-active particles at and adjacent the surface of the fiber are removed.

3. In the method of producing radio-active fibers, the steps of claim 1 and the additional step of forming a water insoluble coating on the fiber.

4. In the method of producing radio-active fibers, the steps of claim 2 and the additional step of forming a water insoluble coating on the fiber. m

FRANZ FATIINGER. 

